~ Scrappy Background Tutorial ~

Hi! Quilty Friends!  I've got he cutest little project to share with you today made from scraps.  

The binder divider was made using Patchouli Moon Studio's Scrappy Background Tutorial.  It's a free download on Craftsy.  You can find it by clicking here.  Daryl has other great patterns and freebies available also.  Click here for her latest fabric folder pattern with some inspirational pattern tester ideas.  This is what inspired my fabric divider.   

You ever had a slap in the head moment? Why didn't I think of this?!  I love how quickly it came together once I got the hang of the freestyle, impromptu sewing. 

 The hardest part was deciding what applique to add.  How cute is this! Fusible applique and a little stitching made it easy peasy.  

Originally the plan was to make button holes...but as I searched through my buttons I had an epiphany.  BUTTONS HAVE HOLES!

The zigzag stitch and some careful stitching to hold them in place.

The backing was also pieces of scrap.  There was not one piece of stabilizer in the house so I decided to just sew the front and back together using the birthing method.  Right sides together, sew all around the outside, leave a 2 inch hole.  Turn right side out, stitch around the outside and TA-DA! Done!

So what are you going to make with a scrappy background?  

~ Lea Anne ~

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~ Welcome Fall ~

Yeah!  Today is officially the first day of Autumn.   Soon we'll be carving pumpkins and roasting marshmallows.  The fall preparations have already begun around Podunk.  Out with the summer decor and in with the new warmer colors of fall.   The first finished project of the season is this cute little welcome banner called "Welcome Fall".

This quilt was inspired by all the black gingham I've been seeing in fall decor at just about every store.  As you all know I'm a gingham lover but not a big fan of blacks and browns.  There's not to many of either color in my stash so I needed  a quick trip to the local quilt shop, Coffee Cup Quilting.  The tiny gingham was perfect.   All the applique is fused with Heat N Bond lite, and stitch in place with a small machine blanket stitch.

While looking for just the right fabrics(and finding little)  I happened to see a bolt of muslin. The creamy muslin was perfect.  The little specks of brown and black added a nice texture to the project. I love it when all the fabrics I need for a project can be purchased in one place.   The green leaves fabric was already in my stash but it too was from the same shop.     

Before making a quilt I usually draw it up in EQ, then play with the colors.  More often than not I make the quilt in a different color than originally planned.   Here's a couple of the color options.  The Black one!   I might need to make this one too!  Love it!  Do you every feel like you're in an episode of The Twilight Zone?  It's Bizarro land.....Lea Anne likes black! 

I had so much fun with this one.  The quilt inspired me to make the pillow you see in the chair and the wreath.  The wreath was made with wild grapevines on our property, wild flowers and a few Blanket flowers from my garden.  Mr. Podunk loved this so much he took a picture to send to his mom who is a Garden Club member.  This is a first!  He took picture of my work! 

The Welcome Fall pattern is available in my Etsy and Craftsy shops.  $3 for PDF and $5 for a mailed pattern.

~ Lea Anne ~

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~ National Sew a Jelly Roll Day ~

Hi Happy quilters!  Did you know this Saturday, September 15 is National Sew a Jelly Roll Day. 

  This event is sponsored by Moda and encourages us to open up those cute little rolls of fabric and create.   If you need some jelly roll quilt project inspiration you can find tons of it over at their website...Project Jelly Roll.

I have to admit I rarely buy the cute little bundles because I'm a yardage kinda gal.  But I did design a quilt just for using a jelly roll or 2.5 strips from your stash.  My Christmas Memories Truck quilt was designed last year during the 2017 #projectjellyroll. 

It has since become the best seller in my Etsy and Craftsy shops.  

Pdf downloadable and mailed patterns are available in my Etsy shop here.

And PDF downloads only are available on Craftsy here. 

I'm excited to announce it can also be found as a kit at Regals Fabrics and Gifts.

~ Lea Anne ~

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~ The Inspiration ~

I'm often asked what inspires my quilt patterns.  That's a hard question to answer because most of the time it's a collection of ideas stored in my brain over time until I feel the need to put them all together into a quilt.  With this quilt I had an idea that was growing but needed a little something more.  Before continuing with my inspiration for this quilt let me say ....it's hard to believe I'm actually enjoying these colors.  Orange, black, gray and purple rarely find their way into my quilts. So let me tell you how this happened.  SHOPPING!  Yes, a shopping trip inspired these colors.  All I need to say is Hobby Lobby and you all will totally understand.  

Normally I steer clear of Hobby Lobby, it's just too tempting to buy, buy, buy.  Not just fabric...EVERYTHING!  What a sensory overload...I want it all!  Cute little this and cute little that,but the thing that really caught my eye was the black and white gingham mixed in with the fall decor.  OMG!  You all know I'm a sucker for gingham.   Well I managed to get out of the store without buying a thing but went immediately to Joann Fabrics for some black gingham.  While the inspiration was hot on my brain I went to my computer and started designing quilts.  Now to find the fabric for these quilts since my stash is lacking blacks, greens and oranges.  No purple...I still can't deal with purple.  The orange polka dots below is my first purchase, it will be the backing for this quilt.

Luckily there's some scraps left over from my Autumn Memories (pictured below) quilt that will work nicely in this quilt design.  

 Hopefully I can have this one ready for a quilt top flimsy Friday post....this Friday.  Hope to see you then!

Linking up this post here

https://conniekresin.com/2018/09/linky-tuesday-september-11th.html

 and

https://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com/2018/09/lets-bee-social-241.html

and

https://www.quiltfabrication.com/2018/09/midweek-makers-140.html

Hop over to these blogs for quilt inspiration!

~ Lea Anne ~

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~ Save the Bees ~ Block 2 ~ GIVEAWAY! ~

***GIVEAWAY CLOSED***

Happy Monday Sweet Bee Lovers!  I'm super excited to share my Block 2 of the Save the Bees BOM.  Once again my fabrics are from my scrap box of Lakehouse Drygoods.  

This month I thought I would try something a little different with the stitching.  It's not a drastic change but it is out of my comfort zone a little bit.  On block 1, I used gray thread to stitch down and outline the bee.  The rest of block 1 I tried to match the thread to the fabric.  

Block one

This months bee is also outlined in gray.

But this month I decided to use a darker thread for ALL the applique instead of being so matchy-matchy.  The thread I choose for the flower and leaves isn't quite as bold as the gray around the bee but it is darker and stands out a bit more than my usual style.

It really makes the leaves and stems stand out.  All of my stitches are machine stitched.  A tear away sticky stabilizer was used on the back to reduce puckering.  If you don't have stabilizer you can use newspaper, tissue paper or copy paper.  If you have a little quilt basting spray it helps to hold in place but not necessary.

Now for a word of caution.   Even though I know how to make half  rectangles, I still made a biggie mistake.  I had the music blaring, just singing and stitching not paying attention and as soon as I made that first cut it hit me...UGG...I stitched them wrong....BOO-HOO-HOO.  Well at least it was only one cut, I picked out the stitches on the rest. 

If your just finding out about this BOM and would like to join you can find all the information you need to get started over at Jacquelynne's blog by clicking here.  Your blocks can be share on social media using #SaveTheBeesQuilt and #SaveTheBeesBOM  You can also join and share them in the Jacquelynne's Facebook Group here.

The prize for September will be a copy of the Carpenter's Apprentice pattern courtesy of EvaPaige Quilt Designs and Clearly Perfect Slotted Trimmers courtesy of New Leaf Stitches.

Make sure you visit all the bloggers for block inspiration and to enter the giveaway on each blog.  That's right you have multiple chances to win this awesome giveaway!  GOOD LUCK!  Open to everyone from everywhere! Giveaway ends September 9th 10 A.M. EDT

 The Crafty Quilter

Podunk Pretties

The Quilting Nook

The Sewing Loft

Flamingo Toes

Kathy's Quilts

Freemotion by the River

A Quilting Life

To enter the giveaway on this blog.  All you need to do is click on the blue button at the end of this post  that says "Add Your Link".  It will look like this but smaller.

Just add your name and email address.  Leaving all other fields blank.   Your email not be visible to anyone but me.   

 Leaving a comment in the comments section of this post will not enter you in the giveaway but you can still comment!  

~ Lea Anne ~

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